Aubertine reflects on new career

Darrel J. Aubertine thought it would be a lateral move: from the upper chamber of the state Senate to the top job at the Department of Agriculture and Markets.

But his career change from the Legislature to the Executive in early 2011 has been anything but, he said in a Monday meeting with the Watertown Daily Times’ editorial board.

“Not at all,” he said. “Going to an agency, it’s a much different role. It’s much more hands-on, much more focused.”

As a senator, Mr. Aubertine’s portfolio included education, health care, transportation, and any other local issue that 300,000 some odd residents might bring to his office.

These days, it’s all agriculture — an issue that includes the environment, food safety, promotion, scientific research and the flooding that occurred in other parts of the state.

For example, Mr. Aubertine said that milk producers could find a huge market in energy supplements, like whey protein, that fitness enthusiasts use to boost their performances.

“That’s another avenue that I think will be driving milk prices, much the same way that the Greek yogurt is driving it,” he said.

Mr. Aubertine, a Democrat of Cape Vincent who served in the Legislature from 2002 until his loss in 2010 to now-Sen. Patricia A. Ritchie, easily ruled out a return to elective politics in 2012.

After that, though?

“Never say never, I guess,” he said. “At this point in my career, I’m very happy to have this opportunity.”

Mr. Aubertine’s career move came at time of transition for Albany, marred for decades by political dysfunction and partisan discord.

In the 13 months since Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo took over, state government’s reputation has greatly improved. Mr. Aubertine downplayed the switch in the state Senate, which went from two years of tumultuous Democratic rule to Republican control with GOP victories, including Mrs. Ritchie’s.

“I think some of the people that were most disruptive are now gone, which certainly has been a positive thing for the state,” Mr. Aubertine said.

In 2009, four Democratic state senators caucused with Republicans; a coup ensued and the state Senate was inactive for months. Three of those state senators — Carl Kruger, Hiram Monsterrate, and Pedro Espada Jr. — are no longer in the chamber after various legal challenges ended their careers.

“You look to where the biggest change has come in leadership, it’s been in the governor’s mansion,” Mr. Aubertine said. “I think that this governor has the ability to work across party lines, but more importantly has the vision where he sees New York state being not just in the next quarter, but over the next decade. And he’s laid the groundwork for that.”

Mr. Aubertine said his working relationship with Mrs. Ritchie, R-Heuvelton, is healthy, even after a bruising 2010 campaign. Mrs. Ritchie became the chairwoman of the Senate Agriculture Committee when the Republicans took over; Mr. Aubertine was her immediate predecessor, and took the position in the governor’s cabinet that works most with the committee.

“The election is a distant memory, I think, probably for both of us at this point in time with all that’s happened over the past year,” Mr. Aubertine said.

Mrs. Ritchie said much the same.

“He’s been at a number of meetings that I’ve been at,” she said in a telephone interview from Albany. “I’ve carried some of the bills, the environmental bills. I think our working relationship is fine. It’s probably a different dynamic than has been seen in Albany before.”